SOCHI (AFP) - President Vladimir Putin acknowledged on Monday that Russia had taken a risk in hosting the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi but said that the country had succeeded in showing off a different face to the world.

SOCHI, Russia (AFP) - Smoothly run and sometimes dazzling, the Sochi Olympics fulfilled President Vladimir Putin's promise of a "spectacular event", even if doubts about the sustainability of the infrastructure and the political background were never fully banished.

KHUTOR, Russia (REUTERS) - Norway's male cross country skiers sounded both mystified and downhearted on Sunday after a Winter Games where they started as one of the favourites but underperformed badly.

SOCHI (REUTERS) - An unnamed German athlete has returned an abnormal doping sample at the Sochi Winter Games and a second sample will be tested later on Friday to determine the presence of banned substances, the German Olympic Committee (DOSB) said.

SOCHI, RUSSIA (AFP) - Skating star Julia Lipnitskaia said she was sad for disappointed home fans, as Russia turned their focus for a first Olympic women's figure skating gold to fellow teen Adelina Sotnikova.

SOCHI, Russia (REUTERS) - Ukrainian Olympic Committee chief and former pole vault champion Sergey Bubka on Wednesday called for an end to violence in his country as Ukraine's athletes struggled to focus on competing at the Sochi Winter Games.